‘Harry Potter’ turns 20

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Believe it or not, the world almost missed out on Harry Potter.

Author J.K. Rowling has told the story of how she received “loads” of rejections before “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (known in the U.S. as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”) was finally published on June 26, 1997.

Rowling once told fans that she couldn’t even get books published under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, which she used for some thrillers she wrote.

As wizards everywhere now know, Rowling and her imagination eventually broke through in a major way.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary the first Potter adventure, let’s take a look at how Rowling’s magical writing changed the world.

According to the report, 84% of [teachers] said “that the boy wizard has had a positive impact on children’s reading abilities and 73% admit that they have been surprised by some of the children that have managed to read Potter.”

Hell-YA

All that reading meant lots of money, convincing publishers that young adult and children’s fiction was still a thing.

Over the years, the eight Potter novels have sold more than 450 million copies and have been translated into more than 60 languages.